H&Q Korea to take full ownership of JobKorea in $85m deal

The private equity firm bought a 49.99% stake for $90 million in December 2013, and since then Monster and H&Q have worked in partnership to manage the business.

"The sale of Monster's remaining stake in the operation is consistent with Monster's continued strategy of unlocking value and sharpening its focus on its core online recruitment platform," the US-listed company said in a statement.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of this month.

Founded in 1996, JobKorea was an early mover in the country's online recruitment advertising space and was acquired by Monster in 2005. Monster is one of the world's largest job platforms, with operations in more than 40 countries and over 200 million individual registrations.

The company has struggled financially in recent years. Revenue dropped from $807.6 million in 2013 to $770 million last year, while the net loss widened from $482,000 to $289.3 million, largely due to asset impairement charges. Monster has introduced a number of cost-cutting measures, including reductions in headcount.

Mid-market focused H&Q Korea was set up in 1998. It is an affiliate of H&Q Asia Pacific. H&Q Asia Pacific has invested in more than 700 companies through 26 funds since inception and has total assets under management of $3.5 billion.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Buyouts
• Technology
• South Korea
• H&Q Asia Pacific
• buyout
• Technology